Just another day in Gor

Today I logged in and saw my Master online, so I went to the Gor Hub--his usual hangout. Surprise! He was not there. I wondered, "Should I IM him?" Instead I decided to do some shopping. My first Master used to--as soon as he saw me online--tug my leash and transport me to wherever he was. My first Master told me not to speak to other men in SL and kept in touch with me when we were both offline by email and texts messages. My current Master does not seem to care what I do when he is not around. Or even when he is around. Ah well. That just means a girl is free to SHOP!

I sometimes wonder why I like dressing up and changing clothing in SL so much. I am not such a clothes horse in RL. Maybe I never had enough time with my Barbie dolls as a kid. Maybe I'm fondly remembering my mother dressing me up in all the girly clothing--pink ribbons in blonde curls, lace and ruffles and skirts (back then though I was as likely to go climb a tree and tear the finery!) In any case I love to primp for a Master in SL. Or I did. My previous Master liked me to change clothing. I asked his favorite colors and dressed to please him. He made suggestions and then was very creative in tearing off bits silks and tying my hands with them.

I don't know what my current Master likes. I think I must be a pretty bad slave that can't even suss our her Master's tastes. (Though I might have better luck if he talked to me instead of at me.) I wonder if my Master even noticed that this girl changed her clothes to match the colors of his yesterday?

So there I am in the middle of a store and Master IMs me. He does not pull my leash, does not call me to where he is. I do not see him at all this morning. But I respond (in IM). 
     Me: Good morning, Master. This girl hopes you are well.
     Him: i am well *rubs her breast firmly*
     Me: Does Master have any commands for his girl?
     Him: smiles "yes... i think its high time i use my slut before i go to work"  as he unbuttons himself
     Me: kneels before you
     Him: taking his cock as he grips her hair shoving his cock deep inside her mouth
              "suck on it my slut... show me what a good whore you are"

I don't have to say a thing, though he'd like me to scream now and again. My inner courtesan is thinking Seriously? And you get off on this shit? But he apparently does. And then off he goes. AFK for a while, not to be bothered. Don't call us, we'll call you.  

Now I do get it. A slave is there to be used. I've read the books. But I can't help thinking, "Dude, you want me to roleplay you have to give me a role!" I am not a RubberDoll!

I, too, have to go AFK. I need to pace. To vent. Instead I go get a cup of coffee.

Ten days I say to myself. I will stick it out for ten days. Ten days is generous, right? I see a lot of profiles where there is a 3 day capture limit.

I have survived days one through three. This is day four. But I can wait. Anticipation makes all things sweeter. I finish my coffee and go back to shopping.

New Toulouse Bayou: a Voudoun Sim in Second Life

Deep in the back woods and waterways of New Toulouse Bayou you stumble across a ramshackle building. Strange smells, incense, candles, the sound of the water, crackle of a firepit. It's Burke Benoir’s B&B Spiritual Supplies. You need a brightly colored voudou doll? She has them in all colors. How about a Hand of Fatima for protection? Candles? She’s got candles for all purposes! St. John the Conqueror for house blessing. Uncrossing to rid you of bad luck. Even candles to call up Marie Laveau, the bad-ass-est witch of all times! Check out the boney-legged altar table. Locks and keys and bottle trees.  Wish bones and lucky elephant statues. A piggy for prosperity. Dried spiders, evil eye beads, and fairy crosses. A chicken foot or a rose quartz crystal. You need it, Burke’s got it. Come by, too, for the dancing under the stars on the Sabbat. Have a drink to Baron Samadhi and toast the loa on the full moon. Come do the circle dance on the edge of the Bayou.

You can visit New Toulouse Bayou in-world at http://slurl.com/secondlife/New%20Toulouse%20Bayou/21/117/22

"Clio" outfit by Draven Sautereau

Someone mentioned to Draven that sexy clothing for women in Greco-Roman sims was hard to come by, so he designed this strategically-placed-wisps-of-silk slinky dress.

Tsai wearing "Clio" outfit by Draven Sautereau
Original photo at: Tsai Jie's Flickr pages

The outfit is made entirely of (over 60!) prims, script resizable for any bust, and it includes a gold rope belt and ankle cords. This is truly an "only in SL, not possible in RL" dress! Look for coming soon it in multiple colors at any Bird of Prey shop, or IM Draven Sautereau with your request.

Moving On Up!

I haven't been writing much of late because I have been incredibly busy in both RL and SL. In RL it was back to school time, and in SL I have also been learning...to build! It all started with Draven's fascination with airships. See in Valis we kept getting weirder and weirder neighbors. First there was a giant ugly box of a castle with neighbors that had a loud obnoxious trivia game broadcasting day and night. Then they sold to a strip club with loud misspelled-text promotional ads that were broadcasting (you got it) day and night. That was always empty, so it sold to a couple who turned it into a large ugly purple club with loud gambling machines. To the other side of us is a really ugly house with big signs advertising a store. For a while now the only amusing thing about the neighbors has been guessing how long till they fold and move on and what ugly thing will turn up next! So Draven proposed we take down the Villa we'd been living in, and live in the airship high above all the chaos below.

Now we share space with several folks (it gets us a bigger space and larger tier). There is my older sister, Jhai; Draven's younger sister, Wren; my friend, Jinara (the group was actually her idea); her first SL boyfriend, Malcolm; Wren's friends, Hawk and Heron (We got this group bird title thing going, and Wren met them while camping when they all looked at each other's names); Dabrin, who is a friend/RL colleague of Draven's; and our most recent addition, Japhrimel, a friend and student of Jhai's who I think of as our younger brother.

But if we were going to move up into the sky what did that mean for our friends? One big family meeting later (well, really it all us girls, Japh, and Draven, since Hawk didn't care and Mal and Dabrin are never around much anymore) we decided to move all of us up into the sky. First we placed Draven's airship, the "Nereide."


Then Jhai bought a second airship, the "Selene."

And Draven rezzed a copy of the ship he'd built for Jhai's SL workplace, a green glass blimp I promptly christened the "Vitreaux."

I had a grotto with a pool and a waterfall (by Juanita Deharo), so I built a big flying hunk of concrete to place it on. It has wind chimes, a Straylight tree, an Isle of Mists waterlily that opens and closes with the sun, and 2 lily pads Jhai found that we can float on. Inside the grotto are candles, a small waterfall and pool, and a grassy place that will be just right for Draven's Kamasutra rug (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). Draven's Rustica furniture and the lovely claw-footed tub he made (for one or two!) also needed a place to be, so I built a large flying rock garden. I took a large, rocky, sculpted megaprim and made an edging of boulders from the library by matching the textures, added a grassy patch Draven had made (for our old yard below), flowers, trees, and then linked the whole thing.

I am particularly proud of the L-shaped bridge that links the Grotto and the Flying Rock because I built that all by myself. The base of it is 2 prims with mahogany planking texture, but nowhere could I find an iron railing texture. Then I remembered a freebie iron-topped table I had in inventory--I took it apart and used the texture on the transparent prim that was the table surface, and stretched it out with the texture repeating for the rail (thank you, oh unknown builder, for your lovely table!). It took a bit of finagling to get it all to line up so I could link it, but one thing I have learned from Draven is not to give up. When you are frustrated, walk away and come back later. It will be a better build if you do.

Jhai and Wren popped in from time to time to give me advice, and Draven came by to check up on me and teach me a new trick here or there, but mostly I just arranged and rearranged all by myself. I've placed our Intan couples dance balls everywhere, and a Bits and Bobs kiss or two around for Draven and I (or for Jinara and her next mad crush). I can't wait to see Draven tonight and show him around. I got him a present too, a murder of crows from WaterMoon Breeze to fly around his ship and the shop below.
Oh, yes, down below Draven rebuilt the villa as the main store for Bird of Prey Designs. Come by and see his dresses and Steampunk gear, stay tuned for more of his furniture builds, and if you want an airship skybox of your own, just IM him--I am certain he'd build you one, too.

Gothic Fashonista!

At the end of a long hard week there is nothing like a shopping spree to lighten a girl's mood . . . Well, okay, maybe multiple orgasms are better (or dark chocolate--especially if it is smeared on a tasty man--which, of course, can lead to the MOs), but serious shopping is the next best thing. So when I heard about the new clothing line a certain tasty man has been building I just had to go buy a new dress.

When I saw it I knew I needed two! One in each color. The dress, by Bird of Prey, is called "Choir"--all slinky black with a gorgeous Celtic cross in scarlet or ivory on the mandarin-collared bodice, on panels of the prim skirt, and on the gauntlet-cuffed gloves. I'm wearing it here with my thigh-high black boots by DE Designs, and the Mata Hari bracelet by Random Calliope. The hair is "Amber" by Callico Creations, in both sunkissed and golden versions of blonde. You can find Bird of Prey shops in the vendor areas of Blue Noise and Bloodforge dance clubs.

Now all I need is a TP to the nearest "Best in Gothic" contest . . . So who wants to take me dancing?

Second Life Places To Visit: Grendel's Children Revisited

A week ago I told you about a lovely sim called Grendel's Children, well . . . since then I have had the chance to revisit that place, explore it further, and it is even more impressive than I thought. Grendel's is the brainchild of Flea Bussy who has made a secondlife career of unique avatar design. From dragons to dark fae, robots to raptors, sirens to succubi, trolls to tanks, you can find anything you can envision becoming in Grendel's. In a recent interview with Not Possible in Real Life, Flea says that: "I'm one of those people who's bread and butter is imagination. I always wanted to make, say, 'stuff for video games,' a very common dream of teens 'n such, 'n then you grow up realizing it's not easy, and not like you'll just get scooped up by some game company 'n be all hailed. And, over a bit of time, I realized I'd hate (it) if all the things I invented existed as they do in 90% of games to: 'just kill it.'" Fortunately for us, Flea diecovered Second Life. Now, 4 sims and 800 avatars later, here's Grendel's Children with Flea and a staff of 23 builders cranking out some of the coolest avs in SL, as well as building and nmaintaining a vast and gorgeous landscape to role play those marvelous creations in.

This is me in my new Lust Demon hair, eyes, and wings from the av collection there.

There are three floors of skybox shops in Grendel's, and all the avs come with full pacakges of skins, shapes, hair, eyes, and clothing--most of them for under $100, and many of them for free.

Don't just take my word for it!

• See some of the amazing pictures of Grendel's on Arahan Claveau's Flickr set.
• Read Natalia Zelmanov's extensive post about Grendel's Children in her Mermaid Diaries!
• See what Lillie Guildenstern has to say about the sim and her new siren av in her Lilikin's Blog.

And then just go visit it yourself in Avaria!

The Courtesan's Sex Tip of the month: How to get what you really want for Christmas

I found this very useful tidbit on the Ambiance website:

Most people, even those with very passionate love lives, all have a sexual fantasy that has gone unfulfilled. For example, there may be a toy you've always wanted to try, or a position that's intrigued you, or a fantasy role play that you've never acted on. Have you considered the holiday season as the perfect time to introduce the idea to your partner.

Just as most of us give ample hints as to other Christmas gifts we desire, these are no different. A creative way to drop the hint is to leave a book on the subject (with a bookmark in a telling spot) next to your bed or somewhere else where your partner is sure to notice. Or, if you have a close friend who you can talk openly to, have a conversation with him or her on the phone when your partner can hear you. (And butter them up in the conversation, too: "She would look so hot. . . ." or "He would simply make me melt if he. . .") These can both be conversation starters that makes your partner aware of desire.

Or, you could also throw subtlety out the window and simply email a link to a product on a website . . . may we suggest Ambiance.com?

Now those are some good ideas and I do applaud the idea of getting the "presents" you want at the holidays (or, in fact, year 'round), but here's another thought. . . . Get in the habit of talking openly and honestly with your partner (SL and/or RL) about your wants, needs. Most women don't speak up enough about their sexual desires and most men don't push it. So we tiptoe around each other in a state of sexual frustration. Silly, isn't it?

If you are too shy to be up front, well then the hints work, too. Here's a big way to drop a hint. Take him to an adult video store and point out the videos that demonstrate what you want. (Take one or two home and watch them together, you'll get the action you want!) Or take him to the adult toy store and point out the "toy" that looks like fun. (You can even buy him the toy you want and suggest he use it on you.) Or, rather than just strategically placing the bookmark, read the whole erotic passage that turns you on out loud to him. I bet he'll be heading your way and undressing before you can say: "doesn't that sound like fun?"

Two things to always be aware of: (1) if you want sex from your partner be affectionate! Snuggle up. Pinch his ass. Touch him in intimate places. Whisper that secret fantasy in his ear. I lay you odds he'll respond. And (2) pay attention to how he touches you. Most of us touch our partners in ways we want to be touched ourselves. If you pay attention you can decipher the clues he's sending out and respond accordingly. Then when he's all turned on by your responsiveness, tell him what you like. Few of us can read our partner's minds; there is nothing wrong with up front honesty about sexuality (no matter what your mother told you about "good girls").

Good sex is reciprocal, you will get as much as you give. Here's wishing all of you a fantastic season of "giving"!

Oh and, Santa, if you are reading this. . . Ambiance is my favorite toy store, too.

T'is the Season to Shop 'Till you Drop

It is true, we are a consumer culture. Face it, we spend millions on bling here in the USA around this time of the year and billions more on marketing that bling. According to an article on CNN.com/technology, "In the first two weeks of November alone, the company that created Second Life says there were almost 3 million digital objects sold on its site, though it's not possible to tell which of those were given as gifts." Second Life itself is nothing if not the ultimate expression of our very consumer culture. After all there is nowhere you can go in SL that you don't run into a mall or atleast some advertising. But is there anything wrong with giving your virtual boyfriend or girlfriend, your whole virtual family of friends a little something at this time of year?

Cynics say virtual gifts have no meaning. No substance. You can't really wear or use or touch them. the same CNN article also tells us: "Others call virtual gifts a waste of money -- a way of "pouring millions down the virtual drain," says Michael Bugeja, the director of Iowa State University's journalism school. He's been a vocal critic of the resources universities and students are dedicating to virtual worlds. This holiday season, he's challenging people to give money they planned to spend on virtual gifts to charity instead."

The response to that perspective is: "'It's easy to get caught up in thinking that it's not real because it's digital. But we have plenty of digital items that have value,' says Jeska Dzwigalski, who works in community and product development for Linden Lab, the creators of Second Life. 'Have you ever bought a song on iTunes? Have you ever paid for software?'"

The whole argument--is it okay? is it a waste of time? a waste of money?--seems rather spurious to me. We are trained from childhood to think of giving gifts to others at certain times of the year. Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays. If you don't send gifts on those occasions, you get labeled as a scrooge or a curmudgeon. But think about this: how often have you gotten a gift that is totally useless and sits in a drawer or a closet until you finally ship it off to Goodwill or sell it on eBay or just throw it in the trash? (My RL mother is addicted to Home Shopping Network and infomercials--I have 3 Eurosealers I will never use in a kitchen closet right now.) Isn't it far better to get an inexpensive virtual item for your virtual life that you will actually use instead of a useless item for your real life for which you are supposed to be appropriately grateful?

Here's my take on it. Say I get a fancy dress or toy or household item in SL from a friend or an admirer. Say it costs L700 (we are talking Lindens here, virtual money, so the equivalent in US dollars is $2.94). For less than the price of a large cappuchino my friend has given me hours of pleasure. Unlike a cup of coffee, I can use this virtual item again and again, and each time I wear it I will think of the friend who gave it to me. I'd say that is really what the giving of gifts is all about--the thought put into picking something of value to the person you wish to gift, the connection made, and the fond memories that are evoked every time that gift is used.

But there is an even larger upside to the virtual gift. No waste! The box or package you wrap it in does not end up in a landfill. You have not spent or wasted huge amounts of real cash. And the best part is you aren't broke or paying off huge credit card debt come January. And here's another thought: some of the money you save by buying small inexpensive gifts inworld rather than pricey useless RL ones can be spent on good causes. Bugeja has part of it right, we all should think of giving to charities. And, although we should be doing it more often than just at the holidays, this is the right time to get that last minute tax break, too.

So here is my plan for this holiday season: shop inworld for your friends and family who play in virtual games. Encourage them to shop inworld in SL for you, too. Give smaller gifts to those who are not inworld, but make it gift cards or cash so they can get something they really want. Then take a chunk of the money you've saved and give it to charity. My list for holiday giving includes: Public Broadcasting, the Sierra Club, UNICEF, the Girl Scouts, the World Wildlife Fund, and National Public Radio. Maybe I'll also finally clean out those closets and get all that stuff I don't need to Goodwill, too.

Reflections: a spot for Romance and Rendezvous beside Waterfalls

You may have noticed by now I have a thing for waterfalls. The latest discovery in my endless quest for waterfalls is Midnight Reflections, a beautiful sim with some of the loveliest waterfalls in SL.



Midnight Reflections also has the some of the largest waterfalls I have seen in SL so far. (See that tiny white figure on the bridge? That's me!)



But follow the paths here and you'll more than great scenery. There are kissing and dancing and cuddling balls. Turn a corner and you may find a tiny pool where you can sit by a campfire and reflect on your love life or port your lover in for sexcapades on a fur throw in hidden grotto.









Part of a series of several side-by-side sims which include Eternal Reflections (with a great dance club), Fallen Reflections (have dinner with your sweetie), Secret Reflections (long walkways and hidden nooks for necking), and Image Reflections (with a mall! what would SL be without shopping?), Midnight Reflections and it's sister sims offers all the romantic getaway nooks that you could ever need.

Sex not most important thing in SL?

Thursday, Nov 8, 2007, Eric Reuters published a piece called "Study finds sex, gambling not major Second Life" on the SL Reuters News Center that tells us not as many people are interested in cybersex as we all thought:

If there’s no “goal” to Second Life, no monsters to kill or experience points to collect, why do so many people log on and spend so much time there? Everyone has their theories, but a new academic study suggests cybersex and gambling are less of a lure than is often assumed. Noble Pierre-Etienne (Second Life: Wolkam Winger) and Angelica Ortiz (Second Life: Angelyka Klata) surveyed 657 residents about their Second Life usage. Only 13.6 percent said they “often” or “always” practice cybersex, and 2.2 percent patronized casinos regularly. The data was collected shortly before the gambling ban, Pierre-Etienne told Reuters.

“It’s not a perfectly representative sample, but that’s not the goal,” Pierre-Etienne said. He advertised the study through various blogs like Wagner James Au’s New World Notes. “You’ll find more Swedish people in our study because it was discussed on Swedish blogs.”
Pierre-Etienne is submitting the data as part of his thesis at the Toulouse Business School on the marketing potential of virtual worlds. His partner Ortiz, a native of Mexico, is examining the same data from a psychological perspective for the Swedish National Institute of Public Health.

“The data shows the most engaging activities in Second Life are shopping and socializing,” Ortiz said. There’s a direct correlation between overall usage and participation in cybersex, with the more committed users more likely to digitally consummate. “I think people want to try everything,” she said.

Regina Lynn, who writes about Second Life relationships for her “Sex Drive” column at Wired.com, isn’t surprised. “I think romance is much bigger than cybersex in Second Life,” Lynn said. “Just like there is more flirtation and come-hither and ooh-la-la in a bar than actual going home with someone to have sex.”

I see a couple of things here that these intrepid researchers may have missed. For one thing, if their demographic is skewed to Scandinavian countries (like Sweden) maybe we ought to pay attention to the fact that there are fewer hangups about sex in RL in those places. Maybe those people who are able to have sex without guilt in RL don't need to have sex in SL. No one seems to be asking the question why have sex in SL? To which, of course, the answer is you don't need it in SL if you are getting satisfactory sex in RL. I would bet on a close correlation between those who have virtual sex and those who live in more puritanic social groups that frown on extra- or pre-marital sex. Let's survey only Americans or Brits (who are the ones I have found most likely to want SL sex regularly) and I bet those percentages rise.

Here's another interesting tidbit: I've met more romantic men (the kind who like to take you dancing, romance you, and flirt first) from New England (Boston in particular) than from any other place. The Californians I've met are pushier (wanting slave or BDSM sex, but always trying to talk their way out of paying for it), and Midwesterners split along genderlines: the men don't want/like virtual sex (and sometimes not even real sex) while the women are out there swinging in many directions.

Now granted this is from an even smaller sample than the aforementioned study and reflects only my clients and friends and my own observations. But I still say that, on the whole, those who go for cybersex are filling a need that is missing in their RLs. SL is first and foremost a social network--but whether you use it to make business contacts, new friends, or to find sex, romance, or the love of your life is all going to depend on your own personal needs. No matter what you need from SL, I say go find what makes you happy and when you find it, enjoy it all you can.

When the going gets Tough, the Tough go Shopping

So after a long hectic week what else is there to do but go get your hair done. I did, and the result is a mane down to my ass like I haven't had in ages. Finally! Long prim hair that doesn't move like steel spikes! The hair is from Calico Creations in Calico Kitty. The outfit is called "Huntress" and came from DE Designs. The rug, you ask? Sexgen . . . of course!